San Francisco >> After six and a half years of review, the state Public Utilities Commission on Thursday approved a permit for California American Water’s Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project, including a North Marina desalination plant.

Following public testimony from dozens of Peninsula and other area residents regarding the project, the commission agreed that Cal Am’s project including 6.4 million gallon per day desal plant and supplemental water supplies is the best available route to providing the water-restrained community with a replacement source of water to offset the state water board’s Carmel River pumping cutback order due to take full effect at the end of 2021.

An already approved Pure Water Monterey recycled water project under construction will add 3,500 acre-feet per year to the Peninsula water supply and allows a smaller, more environmentally friendly desal plant to be built.

Combined, the water project including desal plant and conveyance pipeline will cost $329 million, and the Peninsula’s share of the Pure Water Monterey project will push the total project cost well above $400 million.

A last-minute revision to a proposed decision by three CPUC judges laying out the details and conditions of the project approval called for Cal Am to submit within six months more details regarding a proposed Pure Water Monterey expansion project, which some had argued could replace the desal plant. The commission could consider the proposal if and when it becomes more likely than not that Cal Am’s desal plant would be delayed beyond the 2021 deadline.

In addition to approving the permit, the commission also certified a final combined environmental review document for the project.

Commissioner Liane Randolph noted she is the third assigned commissioner during the extended review period, as well as the Peninsula’s decades-long quest for a new water supply. She said it was time to move forward with the Cal Am proposal that she said had been well-vetted.

“This decision puts the Monterey Peninsula on the road to water security with water that will be safe, reliable and protect the community from drought,” Randolph said, arguing that the CPUC had considered a range of “realistic and reasonable alternatives” and Cal Am’s project emerged as the “best choice” in the end. “(The Cal Am project) does so with protections for ratepayers against unreasonable costs and protections of the environment while providing Cal Am with the best opportunity to meet its customers needs at just and reasonable rates.

“We encourage Cal Am to continue to consider alternatives, but not as a replacement for this project.”

Randolph and other commissioners praised the community’s involvement in the proceeding, including Thursday’s showing.

Commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves praised customer protections in the decision including the potential for shifting excessive and stranded costs to Cal Am shareholders, and encouraged Cal Am to work with the Marina community on “further mitigations” for future potential impacts.

Commissioner Carla Peterman said Peninsula residents had “been living with water uncertainty for too long,” and said the CPUC’s review had been thorough.

In a prepared statement, Cal Am president Rich Svindland said, “Today’s approval brings us closer to solving the Monterey Peninsula’s water supply issues. It is a huge step forward toward establishing a sustainable water supply that will meet the community’s needs and protect the Carmel River.”

On a bus with local project supporters headed back to the Peninsula from Thursday’s meeting, Cal Am Vice President of Engineering Ian Crooks said the CPUC approval was an accomplishment for the community and all those who worked for decades on a water supply solution.

“The biggest thing is this is for the community, not us (Cal Am),” Crooks said. “The community devoted a lot of time to this.”

Cal Am Manager of External Affairs Catherine Stedman said the commission should be commended for conducting a lengthy analysis and reaching a decision in the best interest of the community, including the designation of the proposed Pure Water Monterey expansion as a backup plan.

Peninsula Regional Water Authority Executive Director Jim Cullem said the commission’s action essentially agreed with the mayors’ authority position to approve the desal project now, with Pure Water Monterey expansion to be considered later, though he noted the authority board hadn’t yet weighed in on the recycled water aspect of the CPUC decision.

Public Water Now Managing Director George Riley said the commission’s decision was “not unexpected at all,” but added he was disappointed by its actions and omissions, and expressed skepticism about the potential for the Pure Water Monterey expansion to get a fair hearing since Cal Am will control the process.

“We knew the CPUC was tired of (the project),” Riley said, noting that the commission made no mention of the current high cost of water on the Peninsula and gave short shrift to the Marina community’s concerns despite the location of the desal plant’s feeder wells tapping its water supply. He added that Cal Am still has to make it through several regulatory steps with the prospect of litigation and further delay before actual construction. “This was never a balanced approach. This is a much larger desal plant than we need. There’s so much of an injustice here. The commission has washed its hands of the project.”

Marina Mayor Bruce Delgado said the CPUC simply made a “wrong decision” given the “fatal flaws” in the project proposal and impacts to Marina. Delgado said the community would continue to hope for regulatory agencies to “do the right thing” and would “take every non-litigation step available before we have to sue.”

“We don’t want new impacts to our water supply without getting any new water,” he said. “They don’t have the right to build the desal plant and they’re out of compliance with (the State Groundwater Management Act).”

In a statement, Marina Coast Water District General Manager Keith Van Der Maaten said the district was “disappointed by the (CPUC’s) decision in support of the (project),” and argued the commission had “ignored critical data” including some provided by the district, “and failed to thoroughly evaluate the regional impact” of the proposal, including on Marina’s groundwater supply.

Van Der Maaten added, “It is a very long road ahead for this desalination project, and we trust other regulating agencies will conduct a far more thorough evaluation and review of the data.

“We will not be ignored.”

Cal Am next needs to acquire a coastal development permit for the project from the city of Marina, but has already assumed it will need to appeal to the Coastal Commission.

This is the second time Cal Am won CPUC approval of a desal project, following the regional desal project in December 2010. But that now-defunct project fell apart amid a conflict of interest involving a former county water board member and the proposal never secured a coastal development permit.